Hello Hello 🌻
I moved to Canada with a PR and in two months, I packed my bags and came back to India. Here’s why… but first, let’s rewind and little and give you some context:
August of 2019, I applied for my PR and in January 2020 my PR came through.
For those of you who are new here, I am a designer and I was planning on exploring Canada for my clothing brand in the summers of 2020 but then we all know what happened…
Dooms Day 😔
Fast forward ⏩ to a year later, life changed 360 degrees for me. I had taken a sabbatical from Inaaya, my clothing label. It was it was a nomadic brand I used to travel with across the world and I’d done 35+ pop-ups in 3 years of running it, and then boom.
Suddenly there weren’t any exhibitions. But it was good in a way, because COVID allowed me to actually slow down and instead focus on other skillsets I had. I finally had the time to work on this idea I’d shelved for 4 years.
So finally, with your motivation and support on YT, I started DesignerShala, an online design school in the midst of the pandemic and it was an INSTANT hit! 😊
And basically, by the time when I moved to Canada in September 2021, I had been working remote for almost a year, travelling the world and living a really independent life that allowed me the freedom to be wherever, whenever.
Now that you are all caught up and have a little bit of context, let me share with you why I came back:
1. I was running a remote business. I wasn’t looking for a job in Canada and neither was I looking at restarting my clothing at that point. So for me to be living there, I needed a solid growth plan for my business which I didn’t see happening. And well, spending in dollars while you’re making in rupees isn’t a good financial plan. Also, did I mention the rentals are pretty crazy in Toronto thanks to the insane amount of Chinese real estate investments?
2. Even if I did consider gigs, design consulting or jobs: there’s literally zero market for fashion. I was a part of a WhatsApp community of 200+ NIFTians who’d relocated to Canada in the last 20 years and not one of them who I spoke to was working in fashion. Every single one of them pivoted to a different field. So yes, as a designer you’d mostly have to pivot because there’s no big design houses, brands or labels in Canada. I’ll do a more detailed video talking about this if you’d like so let me know in the comments by commenting “MANGOES” (Haha! I don’t know why I said that!)
3. Lack of friendships and familial bonds: I had no familial ties or friends living in Canada which meant I was pretty much all alone in a foreign country, with little ways of making friends because I wasn’t working a job and not was I in a course in a college. So to be honest, it got pretty lonely sometimes. I was living in downtown Toronto and Montreal and both the places would be pretty dead after 8 pm. It was really depressing sometimes and coming from Mumbai, I am pretty used to the hustle bustle of a big city so that was a major downer. I did end up making a few acquaintances and friends but it didn’t feel enough.
4. Toronto wasn’t New York: While this is an unfair comparison because no two cities are the same but I’d for some reason always envisioned Toronto to be similar to New York. And boy, was I disappointed! Don’t get me wrong. The city is wonderful by itself. But it didn’t speak to my heart how New York did and I felt like I don’t need to settle for this if it doesn’t make me happy. I also lived in Montreal for a bit and it was beautiful but again, didn’t speak to my heart.
5. House chores: I’ve been living independently since 2013 so it’s been over 11 years that I’ve been taking care of myself and but I’ve always hired maids and cooks to keep my space clean and give me good food. I am a business woman and I am grateful I can afford to hire help when I need it. Living abroad is extremely hard if you’ve been earning in India. When you move as a student you don’t know another life so you’re okay adjusting to the country. But when you’ve tasted the luxuries of living in India, boy is it hard or what!
It was honestly a very big leap of faith that I took to just pack my bags and move during the pandemic to Canada for 2 months but honestly: I’d have never known if I hadn’t done it. It was an adventure of a lifetime, living in a different country, travelling alone and just being with myself!
I still have a PR and it’s valid until 2026 or 2027 but it doesn’t look like I am going back to stay :)
Again, don’t want to demotivate you, maybe you have great opportunities in your field and purpose to relocate: to each their own. But well, this is my story and my 5 reasons to have come back from Canada!
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